Scroll cutting and slitting machine with tension control means

ABSTRACT

Stock material is unwound from a coil and passed through a straightening machine. Clearance openings and pilot holes are then punched in the stock material as a preliminary to the slitting operation for producing a plurality of individual scroll-shaped strips. Feeding of the strips is continued for each strip, respectively, and which are individually tensioned and wound on respective cylinders. Following the winding operation, the rotation of the supporting mandrel is stopped and the cylinders are removed by a pusher plate having telescoping relation with the mandrel.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Chester M. Wilg 1 Lincolnwood, Ill. [21] Appl. No. 884,574 [22] Filed Dec. 12, I969 [45] Patented Dec. 21, l97l {73] Assignee F. J. Littell Machine Company Chicago, Ill.

[54] SCROLL CUTTING AND SLITTING MACHINE WITH TENSION CONTROL MEANS 7 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] [1.8. CI 72/324, 83/405 [5 1] Int. Cl B2ld 43/28, 826d 7/06 [50] Field of Search 72/324; 83/156, 405,407 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 806,449 12/1905 Bailey... 83/405 X 2,962,943 l2/l960 Mumperi s3 405x 2,840,886 7/1958 Grube 72/337 2,696,882 12/1954 Stikeleather 83/156X Primary Examiner-Charles W. Lanham Assistant Examiner-R. M. Rogers Attorney-Russell H. Clark SCROLL CUTTING AND SLITTING MACHINE WllTI-I TENSION CONTROL MEANS The invention relates to strip feeding and winding apparatus and has reference in particular to an improved scroll cutting and slitting machine in combination with novel means for winding individual lengths of stock on cylinders under controlled tension.

The apparatus of the present invention is in the field of coilprocessing equipment wherein a heavy coil of stock material is first placed on a coil-loading car which elevates and presents the coil for supported relation on the expandable arms of a coil-centering reel. The reel may be motor driven and the stock material of the coil may be as wide as 90 inches and of every production thickness from maximum to minimum. From the coil the stock material is presented to a straightening machine and then to a combination punch press and slitting machine. In accordance with the present invention the said machine first punches clearance openings and pilot holes in the material and then performs a slitting operation to produce a plurality of individual strips. This scroll cutting of the stock material is performed in a direction longitudinally of the material and the plurality of strips thus formed are respective- 1y tensioned and eventually wound on individual cardboard cylinders. After the strip material has been wound on the respective cylinders to a predetermined extent, the operation of the apparatus is stopped and the cylinders with the strip material wound thereon are removed from their rotating and supporting mandrel by a pusher plate having telescoping relation with the mandrel. It is contemplated that the scroll-cut strip material on the various cylinders will be subsequently processed for the production of various articles such as may be determined by the particular shape and width of the individual strips.

In view of the foregoing an object of the present invention is to provide coil-processing equipment wherein stock material will be unwound from a coil, straightened, and then presented to a scroll cutting and slitting machine, and wherein the stock material is caused to travel over special guiding means which accurately aligns the material and guides the same in advance of presenting the material to the scroll cutting and slitting dies.

Another object of the invention is to provide special guiding and aligning structure for the stock material having a location in advance of the scroll cutting and slitting dies and wherein one side guiding member of the same will be resiliently movable with respect to an opposite 'relatively fixed side guiding member so that the stock material as it moves towards the scroll cutting and slitting dies is resiliently urged into contact with the fixed guide member which is accurately aligned with the said dies.

A more specific object isto provide scroll cutting and slitting mechanism which will perform a series of operations on the stock material in sequence. Clearance openings and pilot holes are punched in the stock material as a first operation. On the next feeding movement of the material between the dies the pilot holes receive pilot pins in order to hold the material accurately positioned between the dies. The next operation on the material as thus retained in position on the pilot pins is to slit the same longitudinally and for this operation the clearance openings are necessary in order to facilitate the cutting action of the slitting dies.

Another object is to provide coil-processing mechanism having scroll cutting and slitting rneans and wherein individual feeding devices are provided for each of the strips cut by the said mechanism so as to control the tension on the strips as determined by loop controlmeans.

A further object resides in the provision of a rotatable mandrel for positioning and supporting sleeve members on which the individual strips are wound. The invention contemplates that the mandrel will be rotated in a controlled manner as determined by potentiometers which in turn control the speed of the mandrel as the material increases in size as it is wound on its cylindrical sleeve.

Another object is to provide new and improved windup mechanism which will support a plurality of sleeve members on a rotatable mandrel for the intended purpose of winding on each sleeve member under controlled tension a strip of scrollcut material. Spacers are located between the sleeve members and in accordance with the invention pressure means are provided for holding the members so that they rotate with the mandrel but which will permit limited slippage to take place for controlling the windup tension.

With these and various other objects in view the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended thereto.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like pans FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the feeding portion of the coil-processing equipment of the invention and which shows the coil-supporting reel, the straightening mechanism, the special guiding means for the stock material and the scroll cutting and slitting apparatus;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the windup portion of the present coil'processing equipment and which shows the individual tensioning means for the scroll-cut strips with loop control and the mandrel winding devices with movable arms for actuating potentiometers;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 1 and showing details of the special guiding means for the stock material;

FIG. 4 is a top plan viewof the special guiding means shown in cross section in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a length of stock material showing the manner in which the same is punched and cut by the scroll cutting and slitting dies of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a detail view showing in side elevation a mandrel winding device with potentiometer control arms;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view showing in top plan the structure of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken longitudinally through a mandrel winding device and showing the structural details of the same; and

FIG. 9 is a detail sectional view of the rack and pinion for the pusher plate.

Referring to the drawings which show one preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be observed from FIG. I that the coil of stock material 10 is initially supported on the coilloading car I1 havingthe side wheels I2 which ride on the rails 13. The platform 14 on which the coil is placed is designed and adapted to be elevated by means of the rack members 15 for presenting the coil I0 to the coil-supporting reel 16. The reel includes the arm members 17 which engage the coil from inside and support the same for rotation. The control arm 18 carries the wheel 20 which contacts and rolls on the periphery of the coil as the same rotates. The arm is controlled in its movements by the power cylinder 21, the piston of which is joined to the arm at 22. The convolutions of the coil are initially stripped and thereafter removed by the stripper 23 which is pivoted at 24 to the piston of the power cylinder 25.

The stock material 26 unwound from the coil I0 is passed through a straightening machine designated in its entirety by numeral 27. The straightening machine provides the rollers 28 for removing any curvature from the stock material and which is fed by the rollers 30 to loop control means which includes the arm 31 pivoted at 32 and which carries the roller 33. The arm 31 is moved as the loop varies in size and said movement is used to control a microswitch to start and stop the rotation of the feed rolls 30. The fingers 34 0s a rake are fixed to a plate pivoted at 35 and which is actuated by the power cylinder 36. The fingers 34 are elevated. into a horizontal position in which position they intermesh with the stationary fingers 37 for the purpose of directing the leading edge of the stock material onto the special guiding structure designated by the numeral 38. During operation the fingers depend driving downwardly as shown in FIG. .1 in order to allow the loop to form in the stock material between the straightening machine 27 and the guiding structure 38.

The details of the guiding structure are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The rollers 40 are located in advance of the guiding structure being journaled by the plates 41 to which the standards 42 are fixed by the tie rods 43. The left and right side frame members 44 and 45 are fixed to the supported plate 41 at one end and have securement at their opposite ends to the base of the scroll cutting and slitting machine 46. The righthand guiding member 48 is supported on the side frame 45 whereas the movable left-hand guiding member 47 is sup ported on the frame member 44. The supporting strips 50 are suitably fixed to the structure and it will also be observed that rollers 51 are carried by each guiding member. Initial positioning of the member 48 is effected by the rotatable rods 52 and 53 which are held by the side frame 44 for rotation for which purpose they have a square projecting end 54 and 55. The rods 52 and 53 have a threaded portion as shown in FIG. 3 for threaded relation with a block 56 which is fixed in depending relation to the guiding member 48. An extension is provided for each rod and the same is operatively connected by bevel gears to the connector 57. Thus rotation of either rod 52 or 53 will be transmitted to the other rod and by reason of the threaded connection with the blocks 56 the position of the member 48 can be adjusted to align with the dies of the scroll cutting and slitting machine 46.

The guiding member 47 is movable transversely of the supporting frames 41 in order to accommodate stock material of various widths. The member 47 is also biased by resilient means in a direction towards the member 48 so as to hold the stock material against the member 48 for accurate positioning with respect to the dies. The rod 58 is held by the side frame 44 for rotation, for which purpose the rod is squared at 60. The rod extends through the tube 61 being threaded thereto and said tube is in turn fixed to the movable guiding member 47, and to supporting structure including the struts 62. The right-hand projecting end of the rod 58 is anchored at 63 in the side frame 45 for rotation. The power cylinders 64 are pivotally secured to the supporting structure including the tube 60 and the struts 62. The pistons of said power cylinders are pivotally secured at 65 to the movable guiding member 47. By rotation of the rod 58 the movable guiding member 47 and the framework formed by the members 50 can be adjusted to the average width of the stock-material. During operation, compressed air is supplied to the power cylinders 64 and they therefore yieldingly bias the movable guiding member 47 in a direction towards the right. This action maintains the righthand edge of the stock material against the guiding member 48 which is accurately aligned with the scroll cutting and slitting dies which structure will now be described.

The forward end of the special guiding structure 38 is supported at 67 on the base of the scroll cutting and slitting machine 46 and in alignment with the antibackup rollers 68 of said machine. The feed rolls 70 are located in front of the rollers 68 and said feed rolls are suitably driven from the main shaft 71 of the machine. The electric motor 72 provides the driving pulley 73 which is operatively connected to the pulley 74 on the main shaft 71. The chain or belt 75 from said shaft drives the wheel 76 which in turn drives the feed rolls 70 in the desired direction. a

The bottom die 77 is supported on the base of the machine 46 whereas the top die 78 is carried for reciprocating movement in vertical guides and the said reciprocating movement of the top die for the punching and cutting operations is effected by the link 80 which connects the top die with the crank arm 81 ofthe main shaft 71.

FIG. illustrates the action of the dies 77 and '78 in punching and slitting the stock material passing through the machine. The initial movement of the stock material 26 into the machine and the first action of the dies is to punch the clearance openings 82 and the pilot holes 83. The pilot holes are used t o position the stock material since the next feeding movement will move the material in a direction towards the left and pilot pins are caused to enter the openings. The clearance openings are necessary to facilitate the slitting of the material which takes place from one clearance opening to the next as indicated by numeral 84. The edge 85 is scrap material and for slitting the same clearance openings are not required. When the stock material moves out from under the dies it will be observed that a number of individual strips have been cut such as A, B, C, etc., and which have a characteristic shape that can be referred-to as a scroll-cut shape. The strips will vary in size, in shape, and in quantity. For illustrating the invention it will be assumed that 10 strips are cut by the dies 77 and 78 and which are arranged in an upper and lower tier upon leaving the dies, with each tier containing five strips.

The structure 86 as shown in FIG. 2 provides the retaining guides 87 for the individual strips and which form loops between said structure and the motor driven feeding and tensioning means for the strips indicated by the numeral 88. Before being presented to the mechanism 88 the strips are each guided by the members 89 and a roller 90 carried by a pivoted arm 91 has contact with the loops of the strips, respectively. The arms 91 are pivoted as at 92 to the base 88 and each pivot shaft actuates a microswitch which in turn controls the operation of the individual tensioning motors 93. A motor unit 93 as best shown in FIG. 2 is provided for each strip. and said motors are run at a basic line speed with a 5 percent plus or minus variation being possible as determined by the loop control roller 90 and arm 91. .Each tensioning motor 93 drives a roller 94 which in turn drives the feed rolls 95. The strip of material is accordingly fed by the feed rolls at a speed which will approximate the basic line speed with a plus or minus not to exceed about 5 percent. This basic speed of each strip with a minor variation is important to the final winding of each strip on a cardboard cylinder which takes place with additional tension control by means of otentiometers which are actuated as the wound-up strips on the cardboard cylinders increase in size.

Considering the top tier of five scroll-cut strips, FIG. 2 shows the same as passing over the table 96, over the rollers 97 and as being wound on the cardboard cylinders 98 sup ported on and rotated by the mandrel 100. In a similar manner the bottom tier of five scroll-cut strips leave the feeding and tension control mechanism 88 and are wound up on individual cardboard containers 98 supported on and rotated by the mandrel 101 which is identical to the mandrel 100, one such member having coaction with the top tier and the other member having coaction with the bottom tier. As each cylinder with the strip winding thereon increases in size, it is necessary to decrease the speed of rotation of the mandrels to accommodate the size increase and this is accomplished in the present apparatus by potentiometer control arms 102 and 103 respectively. This feature of the invention for arms 102 is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The table 96 is provided with spaced side frames 104 and 105 and the rollers 97 are journaled thereby. Also the rod 106 is mounted for rotation by the side frames and the potentiometer arms 102 are fixed at their righthand end to the said rod as at 107. Thus any movement of the arms 102 will oscillate the rod. The left free ends of the arms respectively carry rollers 108 by means of the bifurcated extensions 110. The extensions 110 have a width which is just slightly greater than the maximum width of the scroll-cut strip so that the rollers 108 will roll on the coil 111 as the same is wound on its cardboard cylinder 100 and increases in size.

For lifting and lowering the arms 102, a power cylinder 112 is pivotally joined to the bracket 113 which is fixed to frame member 104. The piston of the power cylinder is pivotally connected to the crank arm 114 which is fixed to the rod 106. A rearward movement of the piston rod of the power cylinder 112 will elevate the potentiometer arms 102 and a forward movement of the piston rod will lower the said arms.

During a winding operation of a scroll-cut strip on its cardboard cylinder, the arms 102 will gradually elevate or rise to rotate the rod 106 in a clockwise direction since the rollers 108 will ride on the outer periphery of the coil as it winds up. This rocking of the rod 106 is transmitted by the lever 114 to the potentiometer unit 116. As a result, the potentiometers within the unit are actuated so as to gradually decrease the speed of rotation of the mandrel.

The supporting and operating structure for the mandrels is shown in FIG. 8. The units for the mandrels 1110 and 101 are identical but only one such unit will be described and the supporting and operating structure for mandrel 1011 has been selected. The base 118 of the unit has front and rear walls 120 and 121 and sidewalls 122. The enclosure provided by the four walls is divided internally by the horizontal partition 123 and by the vertical partition 124 The mandrel 101) projects forwardly of the front wall 120 and said mandrel internally thereof is provided with the bushing structure 125 and 126. The supporting tube 127 for the mandrel has a press fit within the bushing structures and the tube at its forward end receives the closure cap 129. .The rear end of the supporting tube is somewhat enlarged indiameter and this somewhat enlarged portion is journaled at 128 in the wall 120 and at 130 in the partition wall 124. Beyond the journal 130, the supporting tube terminates in a power cylinder 131 which is supplied with a pressure fluid at 132 for reciprocating the piston within the power cylinder. The piston rod 133 of the power cylinder 131 extends through the supporting tube 127 and the rod passes through the end cap 129 and extends into the tensioning spider 134 which will be presently described in detail.

The mandrels 100 and 101 each receive five cylinders 98 on which the strips are respectively wound. The cylinders may be formed of relatively heavy cardboard, plastic, or metal and a spacer ring 135 is located between each cylinder. A spacer ring is also positioned on the mandrel between the pusher plate 136 and the next adjacent cylinder. Also a spacer ring is located at the end between the tensioning spider and the next adjacent cylinder.

The cylinders 98 are retained on the mandrels 101) and 101 with a predetermined tension so that the cylinders will rotate with the mandrels with some slippage between the two members being allowed to take place as the winding of the scrollcut strips proceeds. For rotating the mandrels each unit has an electric motor 137 supported by the bracket 138 which projects rearwardly from the frame portion 140. The frame portion may house gear-reducing mechanism which provides the drive shaft 141 having the double'sprocket wheel 142 fixed thereto. The endless chain mechanism 143 passes over the sprocket wheel 142 and depends downwardly to pass around the supporting tube 127 and coact with the sprocket wheel 144 fixed to said tube. The speed of rotation of the electric motor 137 is controlled by the potentiometers within the unit 116. At the start of the winding operations on the strips, the speed is relatively fast to accord with the basic line speed of the strips. However, as the size of the coil 111 increases, the speed of rotation of the mandrel is decreased and a gradual decrease in speed continues until the winding operation is completed.

During the winding operation of the coils 111 some slippage is allowed to take place to produce the desired tight winding of the strips on the cylinders 98. This slippage of the cylinders is controlled to a degree by the tensioning spider 134 and the rod 133. The rod passes through the spider and the parts are releasably retained in operative relation by the securing nut 145. The spider has three arm portions as best shown in H6. 6 and each arm of the spider retains a pivotally mounted latching dog 146. The latching dogs are each resiliently biased into contact with a stop by the coil springs 147 so that the dogs project radially outward for contact with the spacer ring 135, FIG. 8. During the winding operation, the parts will be in operative association as shown in FIG. 8 with the spider 134 connected to the rod 133 and with the latching dogs 146 in contact with the spacer ring 135 which retains the five cylinders on the mandrel 100. The pressure applied to the spacer ring and thus to the cylinders may be adjusted and varied by the action of the power cylinder 131. Releasing the pressure within the power cylinder will allow the piston rod 133 to move to the left and this will release the tension on the cylinders so that more slippage may take place. Conversely when the pressure within the power cylinder 131 is increased the piston rod is moved to the right and tension is increased to prevent slippage of the cylinders 98.

At the completion of a winding-up operation the individual coils 111 on their respective cylinders 98 are removed from the mandrel. It is first necessary, of course, to stop the winding operation and to cut the various strips. The end of the strip on each coil is attached to the last convolution and held by an adhesive or by tying and the like and. then the spider 134 is released from the rod 133 and removed. The pusher plate 136 is then reciprocated in a direction towards the left to push each of the coils off the mandrel 100. As shown in FIG. 9, the pusher plate is operatively connected at 148 to the rack 150 which is mounted within and has reciprocating movement with respect to the tubular housing 151. The rack is reciprocated by the pinion 152 which is fixed to and journaled for rotation by the transverse shaft 153. The chain 154 operatively connects the shaft 153 with the drive shaft 155 which has a geared relation with the electric motor 156. When the pusher plate is to be actuated, current is supplied to the electric motor 156 to drive the motor which will in turn rotate the pinion 152 to move the rack 150 in a direction towards the left. The pusher plate is likewise moved towards the left and since it telescopes the mandrel the coils are pushed off. Return of the pusher plate to its position as shown in FIG. 8 is effected by a reverse rotation of the electric motor 156.

lclaim:

1. ln apparatus of the character described, in combination, rotatable reel structure for supporting a coil of stock material for rotation, a straightening device for straightening the stock material unwound from the coil, a pair of punching and slitting dies for punching a plurality of openings in the stock material and for slitting the stock material between certain openings to produce a plurality of individual scroll-cut strips, one of said pair of punching and slitting dies being stationary whereas the other die is mounted for vertical reciprocating movement, guiding structure for the stock material located in advance of the punching and slitting dies for guiding and aligning the stock material with respect to the dies in advance of feeding the stock material to the dies, tensioning means located beyond the punching and slitting dies for controlling the basic line speed of the scroll-cut strips respectively, and a rotatable mandrel unit for winding the scroll-cut strips onto respective cylinders releasably mounted on the mandrel of said unit.

2. ln apparatus of the character as defined by claim 1, wherein the guiding structure includes a first side guiding member having an accurate aligned relation with the punching and slitting dies, a second side guiding member capable of limited movement transversely of the stock material, and power cylinders for yieldingly biasing the second side guiding member so as to maintain the stock material in contact with the said first side guiding member.

3. ln apparatus of the character as defined by claim 2, additionally including manual means for adjusting the transverse position of the first side guiding member, whereby the same may be manually adjusted for accurate alignment with the punching and slitting dies.

4. ln apparatus of the character described, in combination, a scroll-cutting machine having a pair of punching and slitting dies for punching a plurality of openings in stock material and for slitting the stock material between certain openings to produce a plurality of scroll-cut strips, guiding structure for the stock material located in advance of the punching and slitting dies for guiding and aligning the stock material with respect to the dies in advance of the feeding of the stock material to the dies, tensioning means located beyond the punching and slitting dies for controlling the basic line speed of the scroll-cut strips respectively, said tensioning means including feeding rollers for each scroll-cut strip, power means respectively for rotating the said feeding rollers, loop control means for regulating the speed of each power means and thus operation of the feeding rollers in feeding the respective strips, a rotatable mandrel unit for winding the scroll-cut strips onto respective cylinders releasably mounted on the mandrel of said unit, and potentiometer control means for regulating the speed of rotation of the mandrel of said unit as the scroll-cut strips are wound on their respective cylinders.

5. ln apparatus of the character as defined by claim 4, additionally including power means for rotating the mandrel of the unit, and a pusher plate adapted to have reciprocating movement in telescoping relation with the mandrel, whereby to remove the cylinders from the mandrel following a winding operation.

6. lnapparatus of the character defined by claim 4, additionally including power means for rotating the mandrel of the unit, and tension control means in associated relation with the mandrel for applying a predetermined axial pressure to the cylinders on the mandrel, whereby to cause the cylinders to rotate with the mandrel but which will permit slippage of the cylinders with respect thereto so as to maintain a tight winding of the scroll-cut strips on the said cylinders.

7. ln apparatus of the character defined by claim 4, additionally including power means for rotating the mandrel of the unit, potentiometer control means for regulating the operation of said power means in a manner to control the speed of rotation of the mandrel as the scroll-cut strips are wound on their respective cylinders, and tension control means in associated relation with the mandrel for applying a predetermined axial pressure to the cylinders on the mandrel, whereby to cause the cylinders to rotate with the mandrel but which will permit slippage of the cylinders with respect thereto so as to maintain a tight winding of the scroll-cut strips on said cylinders. 

1. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, rotatable reel structure for supporting a coil of stock material for rotation, a straightening device for straightening the stock material unwound from the coil, a pair of punching and slitting dies for punching a plurality of openings in the stock material and for slitting the stock material between certain openings to produce a plurality of individual scroll-cut strips, one of said pair of punching and slitting dies being stationary whereas the other die is mounted for vertical reciprocating movement, guiding structure for the stock material located in advance of the punching and slitting dies for guiding and aligning the stock material with respect to the dies in advance of feeding the stock material to the dies, tensioning means located beyond the punching and slitting dies for controlling the basic line speed of the scroll-cut strips respectively, and a rotatable mandrel unit for winding the scroll-cut strips onto respective cylinders releasably mounted on the mandrel of said unit.
 2. In apparatus of the character as defined by claim 1, wherein the guiding structure includes a first side guiding member having an accurate aligned relation with the punching and slitting dies, a second side guiding member capable of limited movement transversely of the stock material, and power cylinders for yieldingly biasing the second side guiding member so as to maintain the stock material in contact with the said first side guiding member.
 3. In apparatus of the character as defined by claim 2, additionally including manual means for adjusting the transverse position of the first side guiding member, whereby the same may be manually adjusted for accurate alignment with the punching and slitting dies.
 4. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a scroll-cutting machine having a pair of punching and slitting dies for punching a plurality of openings in stock material and for slitting the stock material between certain openings to produce a plurality of scroll-cut strips, guiding structure for the stock material located in advance of the punching and slitting dies for guiding and aligning the stock material with respect to the dies in advance of the feeding of the stock material to the dies, tensioning means located beyond the punching and slitting dies for controlling the basic line speed of the scroll-cut strips respectively, said tensioning means including feeding rollers for each scroll-cut strip, power means respectively for rotating the said feeding rollers, loop control means for regulating the speed of each power means and thus operation of the feeding rollers in feeding the respective strips, a rotatable mandrel unit for winding the scroll-cut strips onto respective cylinders releasably mounted on the mandrel of said unit, and potentiometer control means for regulating the speed of rotation of the mandrel of said unit as the scroll-cut strips are wound on their respective cylinders.
 5. In apparatus of the character as defined by claim 4, additionally including power means for rotating the mandrel of the unit, and a pusher plate adapted to have reciprocating movement in telescoping relation with the mandrel, whereby to remove the cylinders from the mandrel following a winding operation.
 6. In apparatus of the character defined by claim 4, additionally including power means for rotating the mandrel of the unit, and tension control means in associated relation with the mandrel for applying a predetermined axial pressure to the cylinders on the mandrel, whereby to cause the cylinders to rotate with the mandrel but which will permit slippage of the cylinders with respect thereto so as to maintain a tight winding of the scroll-cut strips on the said cylinders.
 7. In apparatus of the character defined by claim 4, additionally including power means for rotating the mandrel of the unit, potentiometer control means for regulating the operation of said power means in a manner to control the speed of rotation of the mandrel as the scroll-cut strips are wound on their respective cylinders, and tension control means in associated relation with the mandrel for applying a predetermined axial pressure to the cylinders on the mandrel, whereby to cause the cylinders to rotate with the mandrel but which will permit slippage of the cylinders with respect thereto so as to maintain a tight winding of the scroll-cut strips on said cylinders. 